Crockery was smashed and the staff of the Piccadily Hotel in west Delhi’s Janakpuri was thrashed on Sunday allegedly by relatives and friends of a man who was to be married at the hotel, police said.

DCP (west) Monika Bhardwaj said the violence started after the guests were allegedly served “cold” food. The hotel’s general manager, however, denied the allegations and claimed that the groom’s friends misbehaved with the hotel’s female staff.

“The groom and his guests fled without even attending the wedding function,” said the general manager, Rajesh Batla.

The police did not reveal the identities of the groom or the guests or their contact details, but said they are residents of nearby Vikaspuri. “On the day of the incident, we detained two guests and one waiter as part of preventive action. On Monday, the hotel authorities approached us with a written complaint. We are in the process of registering a first information report,” said DCP Bhardwaj.

The party allegedly involved in the ruckus included 400 guests. “It was past midnight and only around 50 of them were left at the hotel. The groom and his friends got drunk and began dancing. They began misbehaving with our staff,” alleged Batla. “Four of our staff suffered head injuries.”